BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A drunk driver has pleaded guilty to charges related to killing his passenger in a crash in Buffalo's Riverside neighborhood in 2024, the Erie County District Attorney's Office said Thursday.

Alexander Kozak, 29, pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Kozak was driving his modified 1992 Honda Civic around 10 p.m. on July 20, 2024 when he lost control and crashed into a tree on Arthur Street near Tonawanda Street. His front seat passenger, 30-year-old Sommer Lynn Toth, died at the scene.

Kozak faces a maximum of seven years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 14, 2026. Prosecutors ask that he be held, but he was released on previously posted bail.

Aidan Joly was named News 4's Digital Executive Producer in 2025

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